Most Common Chronic Sinusitis Symptoms

Visualize yourself relaxing at a beach. As you look around, you can see the beauty of the clean waters, blue skies and fine sand. Everything has been perfect, until you start to feel uncomfortable because you are attacked by the sneezing and snuffling you have been experiencing for the past few months.

Similar scenarios may have already happened to you before. Constant and repeated sneezing is usually caused by an illness called chronic sinusitis. It can become a huge hindrance to doing the usual activities and tasks you do every day. It can even ruin schedules you have planned for weeks, since the physical signs tend to wear you out as soon as the first day of infection. This is the precise reason why it is significant for people to be well-informed of this illness, specifically the symptoms, since this knowledge will immediately provide treatment to and alleviate the infection.

Chronic sinusitis is an infection caused by swelling of the tissues that are present in sinuses. Most of the time, it is triggered by microorganism-caused infections, allergic reactions, and normal immune responses. It is almost similar to acute sinusitis, which is another type of the said illness. However, the two kinds are distinct in terms of the duration of the illness. Chronic sinusitis can occur for almost three months, while acute happens in a shorter period of time. Furthermore, everyone is potentially unsafe from acquiring this infection, since the environment contains numerous allergens and other foreign materials that induce inflammation. Adults and children are both risked to have the infection.

Chronic sinusitis symptoms are among the chunks of information that people ought to know. By learning these, one will be able to seek for immediate treatment upon noticing the signs, and at the same time, do steps that will help in preventing the said illness. This article will discuss the symptoms that occur among people with chronic sinusitis.

Nasal Blockage
One of the most apparent chronic sinusitis symptoms is nasal blockage. As the name states, nasal passageways that serve as our primary means in respiring are obstructed after a prior case of acute sinusitis. The nose is the sensory organ mainly responsible for both the entry of oxygen and the exit of carbon dioxide. It also houses other organ parts that filter the air we breathe, so that we do not inhale unnecessary particles present in the atmosphere. If the normal pathway of respiration is obstructed, it would be very difficult for a person to function comfortably. The mouth can also become a means to facilitate breathing, but this will provide less protection.

You may have already experienced nasal congestion when you had common colds in the past. Do you remember how tiring that day was for you? Think of how infuriating it would feel to suffer from nasal blockage for three months. That’s what primarily characterizes people with chronic sinusitis.

Chronic Fatigue
When a person sneezes all the time, the natural propensity to get tired easily increases. Once bacteria and viruses invade the body, a person’s immune system fights them off in order to prevent them from harming healthy cells. However, the body tends to exert energy to counterattack the mechanisms of these foreign bodies. When chronic sinusitis is present, microorganisms have long been controlling and altering the body processes, which means the immune system has been utilizing energy during the same amount of time. This is the reason why loss of energy and chronic fatigue are common chronic sinusitis symptoms.

In addition to this, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which the body constantly produces through metabolism in the body, becomes released to the environment every time a person sneezes. This results to the decrease of energy in the body, which easily leads to instant weariness.

Pain in Some Parts of the Face
When the internal bodily processes of a human being do not take place normally, parts adjacent to the inflamed area may be affected as well. Among the chronic sinusitis symptoms is sudden pain in certain facial features. These parts include the eyes, forehead, cheeks and roof of the mouth and teeth of a person. Since the nasal sinus is swollen, the tissues near the face become puffy as well.

Bacteria and viruses are mainly concentrated in the sinus, which is an area that contains nutrients and moisture, making it a suitable environment for microbes. They start to multiply and migrate to other organs in the body. This leads to a higher probability of finding microorganisms in parts nearer the sinus, namely eyes, forehead, cheeks and mouth. The linings of the cells and tissues that provide support and protection to these organs are attacked by microorganisms, although in lower concentrations relative to the sinus.

Postnasal drip
This term may sound complex to a first-time reader, but postnasal drip is similar with nasal discharge or runny nose. One of the symptoms of chronic sinusitis is releasing sputum. Normally, postnasal drip is not harmful to people since most days, mucus accumulates in our nostrils. Nevertheless, for people with sinus infections, nasal drainage may produce dense and discolored particles. Excessive mucus secretion is also one of the more apparent chronic sinusitis symptoms. Furthermore, runny nose can block the Eustachian tube, a hollow portion that connects the ear and the nose, when you blow your nose often.

Cough
Aside from the previously mentioned chronic sinusitis symptoms, cough adds to that list. Since a person with chronic sinusitis produces extreme secretions as the body’s mechanism of action against microorganisms, it is highly probable for these discharges to accumulate in the throat. This is because the nose, mouth and throat are interconnected through a web of tissues present in the body. When these secretions build up in the throat, the mucus builds up to an irregularly high amount, blocks the air passageways and leads to the presence of a respiratory infection named cough.

Some apparent chronic sinusitis symptoms include nasal blockage, chronic fatigue, pain in specific parts of the face, postnasal drip and cough. If you continuously experience these symptoms for longer than a month, it would be best to consult a physician soon.